Give your favorite room a fabulous face lift.

Updating your kitchen can be an expensive project... or not. Investing the minimum doesn't mean you won't get a great result. Paint offers maximum impact for low cost, especially if you make it a DIY endeavor. It can be applied to almost any surface - including countertops! Read on for ideas on how to use paint to your advantage in the kitchen.

For many of us, the kitchen is the heart of the home – it’s the place where we cook, where we gather to eat and where we choose to entertain. It can often do double-duty as a playroom, dining room, laundry, home office and more. Therefore, it’s no surprise that kitchens often show wear and tear quickly.

Thankfully, creating a new look in your kitchen doesn’t mean you need to start again from scratch. Transformations can often be quick and simple – and most need next-to-no tools. We’re talking low mess, low fuss, and maximum impact.

To get you inspired, here are our top tips to inject a breath of fresh air into your kitchen. They’re easy projects that can be completed start to finish in a couple of hours at most. So grab your supplies, let’s get started!

Get All of the information you'll need on Semi-custom kitchen cabinets, that may provide a fantastic balance between price and warmth on your kitchen design.

Whether you are installing new kitchen cabinets or upgrading existing Available from a broad selection of home design and improvement shops, semi-custom kitchen cabinets permit for a fantastic balance between price, efficacy and custom layout.

There are 3 standard forms of cabinet layouts. Custom kitchen cabinets philadelphia pa are made from scratch in accordance with a particular design asked by the client. Semi-custom cabinets incorporate inventory elements but permit some customization from the client. Stock cabinets come fully designed and constructed "as-is."

Each cupboard type has advantages and challenges. Customized cabinets offer you complete freedom concerning layout, but are undoubtedly the most expensive. Semi-custom cabinets are at the mid century concerning price, however they do provide some layout freedom. Stock cabinets would be the most affordable, but you need to content yourself with the company's design.

Combination of versatility and price, semi-custom kitchen cabinets might be the ideal alternative for you. You may often select finishes or colors, different hardware and door types, or possibly a variety of substances for your walk-in cupboards. They'll take slightly longer to send than stock cabinets, but a lot of homeowners find the liberty of having layout input to be well worth the extra time and cost.

Homeowner's special design requests. This laborious procedure takes some time and consequently prices cash.

The primary advantage of utilizing custom They're completely created to order and so can be customized in size and layout so as to fulfill the demands of your particular kitchen. The most unique or hard space could be matched with custom cabinets so as to ensure it is a practical kitchen. The options are endless for your amount, size, shape, thickness, accessories and finishes, so you are guaranteed to end up with a room that is tailor-made for your own cooking and dining needs.

This creative freedom Includes a Low cost tag. Cabinetmakers have high costs associated with their job, and also the superior materials typically utilized in custom cabinetry tend to be pricey. Hand-crafted ornamentation added into your cabinets or hand-painted faux finishes may drive up the price of custom cabinets, as will the hardware along with extra accessories selected to finish the appearance.

A Last concern for a homeowner Employing custom cabinets is that due to their made-to-order temperament, a strategy has to be in place before installing and building the cabinets. Planning tools are available on the internet in addition to through contractors. Blueprinting the specifications out of your precise cabinets may add additional time for your job originally, but it is going to save yourself money and time by keeping you away from making expensive mistakes in the long term.

Unusual kitchen area or distinctive design style, custom cabinets might be just What it is you're searching for. Creative liberty coupled with quality workmanship Make custom cabinets an attractive alternative for all those that have a massive budget and Flexible project deadline.

You've Got heavy equipment or trucks to sell, and, like most Equipment vendors, you need top dollar. Considering most heavy equipment demands a significant outlay of money to buy initially and to keep indefinitely, who would not? So it only seems reasonable to want to recoup a good amount of your investment when it is time to market.

Know what your equipment is worth

Do your homework and research equipment pricing and business trends For similar equipment. Utilize the latest information it's possible to locate and establish a price range for your gear. Having a price range can help you negotiate confidently and set realistic price expectations.

Research selling methods

Condition and how fast you want to complete the sale, there's a selling strategy for construction equipment sales columbus ohio. To know what advertising process would work best for you, educate yourself on the pros and cons of common equipment selling methods, such as unreserved auctions, booked auctions, private sale, equipment dealers and gear brokers.

Visit a pro

As tempting as it may be to go it alone, think about the amount of time and Effort you'll have to put in the selling process - and the amount of possible buyers you may reach without the support of an expert in sales and marketing. You may save yourself a great deal of time and money with a full size solution, especially if you're selling a great deal of items, don't have a committed asset manager or work in a region with high supply/low demand for used equipment. Speak to an experienced salesperson about creating a selling strategy designed to get you the very best return on your investment.

Show the value of your equipment

The way your gear looks can either deter buyers or bring higher supplies. Before you sell, consider heavy equipment refurbishing. Refurbishing may consist of cleaning, glasswork, upholstery cleaning, painting, decal replacement or any place in the refurbishing menu.

Target buyers wisely

Try to target the maximum gear buyers that you can, but neglect'™t sacrifice Quality for volume. Work with an equipment vendor that not only actively markets into a huge population of gear buyers, but targets its advertising efforts based on the industry your gear is best suited towards and the area where there is the most requirement. Marketing your equipment may be the most time consuming and expensive step in the selling procedure, so make certain to choose an equipment seller with proven marketing expertise.

Be transparent

Provide detailed photographs and info regarding your equipment. Include photos Remember: buyers love convenient online access to gear info. However, some buyers are weary of purchasing equipment they are not able to view and test first hand. If you are employing a marketing agent or auction company, choose one that publishes detailed equipment information online and accommodates on-site inspections.

Screen buyers

When you receive an pleasant deal, the last thing you want is for the deal To drop through. Screen potential buyers before you accept an offer or work with A marketing agent that verifies the legitimacy of possible buyers for your benefit. At Ritchie Bros.. Auctioneers, we qualify potential buyers before the auction to Prevent prices falling through and ensure that sellers get paid. To assist buyers Close the deal, Ritchie Bros. also provides affordable equipment Financing.

Keep a freshly painted look on your walls by keeping them free from dust and stains. Plus, preventive maintenance means less time spent scrubbing afterwards.

Vacuum walls with a soft brush attachment. Then wipe them down using a Cloth-covered broom or mop (spray using a dusting agent for best results) or use an electrostatic dusting wipe. Wipe away fingerprints and other marks shortly once they appear. House cleaning columbus ohio recommend to avoid using an excessive quantity of water.

Walls Painted with Latex Paint

Wash walls painted with latex paint using warm water and a nonabrasive all-purpose cleaner. Gently rub the wall. Pay special attention to regions that get touched frequently - such as around doorknobs and light switches. Rinse with another sponge and very clear water. Be careful not to wet areas around sockets, light switches, telephone jacks, and other electrical connections. When scrubbing these stains becomes mandatory, turn off power at the circuit breaker box.

For stubborn spots, such as fingerprints, paper smudges, or scuffs, make A paste of baking soda and water and rub the region with a nonabrasive pad. If cleanser (or white vinegar and water) does not eliminate the grime or blot on painted woodwork, wipe the woodwork with a rag dampened with rubbing alcohol.

Walls Painted with Oil-Based Paint

Wash walls painted using multi-colored paint in the Exact Same manner, substituting Detergent solution (see below) for your own cleaner or white vinegar mix. Wring The cloth or sponge until only slightly damp. Texture-painted walls, such as People that have a troweled finish, can be dust catchers and may require deeper cleaning. Add 1 oz of borax to every pint of water to clean the wall.

The Dwelling in divorce may be an intimidating job. To market or not to market? And if the home has to be sold, when?

If kids are concerned, simply Selling the house and dividing the profits is not necessarily the best alternative, though frequently it is the only realistic option in some instances. The children's bedrooms are their refuge, and also the shock of realizing that their parents are separating together with the lack of comfortable surroundings can be a severe setback.

in the event the family home has to be sold, it will not necessarily need to be sold in the time of divorce.

If a partner brings a house to a union as their separate property, however, the few pays the mortgage utilizing community property financing, the community is eligible for reimbursement for those obligations and might be qualified to be given a proportion of the property's appreciation.

In the event the family residence represents a few most significant assets, 1 spouse could "cash out" the other partner having a promissory note.

A judge will award the partner with temporary custody of their kids the right to stay in the family house in the period between divorce and separation.

Various individuals, but to many it signifies a refuge from the demands of life, a link to the neighborhood, and also the anchor of their family unit. Contemplating losing the house because of divorce is not agreeable. Based upon your situation, selling the house might not be vital. When determining how to Manage your house through divorce, think about the following four choices:

Purchase your partner by buying Their share of the House

Sell your talk of their home for your partner

Sell the home to another party and split the community portion of the profits

Continue to Have the house jointly, with the arrangement You Will place it to your partner or another party later on

Valuation

Before you can attain a reasonable Settlement concerning the family home, naturally, you need to have a firm grasp of their reasonable market value of their residence. The present fair market value is the amount you would get if you recorded your property available in the open market. Obtaining a reasonably precise figure is not difficult if you apply the right channels. For all those who reside on the world wide web, know that property sites which purport to gauge the value of your house. Nevertheless, your regional real estate agent is a valuable source.

If You'd like an even broader valuation of your House, consider hiring a property appraiser. The price related to this kind of appraisal can be very important (well more than a thousand bucks), but your partner would rather not put your faith in the regional realtor, a legitimate appraisal is a great bet. Note also that if you and your partner can not behave like grownups and negotiate a reasonable settlement, divorce mediation will fail, and you'll end up in litigation which involves a conflict of appraisers. Start adding together the lawyer's fees for both partners and the expenses of different assessments, and you'll soon understand why this approach is financially catastrophic.

When deciding the balance of your equity or mortgage Loans, constantly use the "payoff equilibrium" figure. The "primary balance" only reflects the sum of principal that has to be repaid. The "payoff equilibrium," on the other hand, includes any prepayment fees needed to repay the loan, in addition to another month's attention rate.

To get a true image of the liens in your house, you will Have to perform a name search. Exemptions may seem that you haven't seen previously. Can either enlist the support of a name company (you can find lots of online) or create The excursion to the county recorder's office and request the aid of this Clerk in finding your property documents.

With fires there will likely always be a level of smoke harm to your walls, wall Paper and paint. If the smoke harm is not too severe, you should be able to wash it clean with detergents and bleach. Note: soot from smoke damage is fatty stuff so that you ought to always try to dust as a lot off it out of a surface before attempting to scrub it clean. Often, you will want to repaint, but be certain all surfaces are clean and dry before painting.

Another huge issue in fire and water damage restoration is actually introduced by the Water used to extinguish a fire. This problem is mold and mildew, and demands special attention. We highly recommend fire damage restoration professionals to manage mold and mildew, since it can cause significant health issues, and can contaminate furniture, rugs, clothes, mattresses, walls and vents. The best thing you can do quickly is air out every room and wash out all filters and vents.

Fixing Flooring & Carpet

With all the water That's involved in putting out a fire, your flooring and Rugs will wind up absorbing the worst of it. In virtually every case, it's suggested that you pull any carpets that have water damage and replace them. Water may also seep underneath vinyl flooring and into cracks of hard wood, and will have to be addressed. If you have experience with floors, you can lift it up and clean under them, but you may want to call an expert fire damage restoration company to assist you.

Cleaning smoke harm from clothing is among the biggest tasks you'll find Following a fire. We have written a whole article on Restoring Clothing of Smoke Damage. Our main suggestion is to make certain that you don't split the fatty soot to the clothing or merely throw the smoky clothes into the scrub. Frequently times cleaning is your best bet, and you need to ask around local dry cleaners to find out if any have experience with post-fire laundry.

Cleaning Dishes

Dishes are also significant items to wash thoroughly after a fire as They will be in contact with your food and can cause health problems. Scrub all Dishes let them soak in a solution of bleach and water (2 tablespoons of Bleach per gallon) for 20 or more minutes and scrub some more for security. When In doubt, if a dish, pot or pan will not come clean, cut your losses and throw it Out -- (especially rubber or wooden dishes that absorb smoke).

A asphalt driveway may last nearly 30 decades. However, you can not attain that lengthy life span unless the drive was set up correctly and you perform routine maintenance, such as filling cracks yearly and drive sealing when required.

Driveway sealing groundwork can have a complete day (including drying time), and it is tedious. The program period is much quicker, taking just a couple of hours per coat to get a normal driveway. Seal coating columbus recommends two coats using a minimum drying period of eight hours between coats, therefore this driveway sealing job will fill an whole weekend.

The materials cost about $100, but you are going to save approximately $200 in labour on a professional job. A power washer rates the cleanup procedure, but it's possible to do the job with no.

Avoid these Frequent driveway sealing mistakes

Fill them correctly before applying sealer.

If you do not need to spend some time cleaning the driveway, then you might too bypass the mop too, since it won't adhere to a cluttered driveway.

Struggling to stir correctly. Do not rely on a stir rod. It simply will not combine the solids and water sufficient to acquire a consistent mix.

The use of the incorrect applicator.

Implementing dyes too frequently. An excessive amount of bleach will flake out. Wait till you start to see asphalt aggregate until you apply a fresh coat of sealer.

Purchasing the Ideal stuff

Driveway sealer can be found in a variety of grades and price ranges, from as small as $15 each 5-gallon pail to approximately $35 each pail to get a superior product. Some purchase merchandise contain nearly 50 percent water and also have lower coverage rates along with a correspondingly shorter warranty, so they are not the cheapest alternative over the long run. Utilize one of these if you are trying to spiff up the driveway prior to selling your property. Premium goods, on the other hand, are created with high quality resins and UV stabilizers and comprise filler and elastomeric substance, so that they last longer and take a longer warranty.

Producers also make various formulas for various driveway sealing requirements: a single formulation for drives that are newer in good shape and yet another formulation for elderly drives which have not been well preserved. The 2 formulas also change in their policy, so read the labels carefully and select the right sealer and volume for your specific driveway. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for the kind of applicator to utilize (brush or squeegee). Using the incorrect one may lead to premature failure. You will also require liquid drive cleaner/degreaser to eliminate oil and tree sap. If your driveway has observable oil stains, then get a jar of oil spot primer.

Check the weather Prior to Starting

You are going to want at least two times of warm weather to secure your driveway. And, it is ideal to prevent scorching-hot bright days (the sealer may dry too quickly). Should you dismiss the weather prediction, you might find $100 value of sealer wash off in a heavy rain.

Particularly as the weather begins to cool off for many of us around the globe, as we approach Fall and Winter seasons, our fireplaces might begin to see a little more use. If we’re going to use them, why not make them as beautiful as they are functional?!

Stunning corner fireplace design

Here are wood fireplaces columbus, oh ideas to inspire and motivate you. Any of these would really make your fireplace a place to gather…for more reasons than just warmth.

Corner fireplace

Got a floating wall that needs some presence? Install a gorgeous two-sided contemporary fireplace on the wall’s end. This will increase the impact of your fireplace because you can enjoy the fire from multiple angles, plus it just creates a natural draw into the room itself.

Framing trim.

Install trim around your fireplace that frames the fireplace itself. We love this tiered trimming concept, done in all white like the rest of the room’s walls, as an accentuation of the fireplace itself. Classic and clean architectural detail that packs a punch.

Chunky wood mantel

Fireplaces themselves can’t be made of wood…for obvious reasons. But that doesn’t mean this warm natural material should be avoided altogether. In this stunning fireplace setting, for example, a chunky wood mantel and equally substantial corbels bring warmth and provide a distinct separation between the mantel face and the upper wall.

Fireplace simplified

One fireplace idea that goes against the tide is a beautiful incorporation of backwards thinking. Rather than do anything at all to the fireplace, you could create a similar stunning effect by focusing your efforts on the walls behind and surrounding the fireplace. A simple white fireplace surround, for example, looks awesome against a wood-planked wall.

Simple marble surround.

The simplicity of a contemporary marble surround, with smooth surfaces and clean angles and lines, will make the fireplace the first thing everyone will notice when they come into your living room. We like the contrast of white surround with a colored wall.

The smash-and-grab bathroom renovate detailed here is a dark key and will not make you a well known figure at cocktail party interactions.Bathroom remodeling is 2nd only to kitchen remodeling with regards to pain, misery, dust, price, and unmet-timetables. Given the particular sickeningly high cost of restroom remodeling, it pays to think creatively. Here are several Lake Zurich bathroom remodel tips.In the end, you will have a clean, vivid, and functional bathroom. And much more money in your bank account than property owners who went the costly route.Cover and Re-Surface Instead of ReplaceThis is the helping principle of any surface-level renovation, with the caveat that you simply never want to cover anything at all because it needs to be replaced.For instance , in bathrooms there is no much better way to cover up the lower concoction of walls than along with easy-to-install wainscot.Wainscot is really a pre-fab board that expands as high as 48" and removes the need to fix any unlucky wall dings and minimal holes. But should that will wallboard be speckled along with mold and mildew, the last thing you want to do is usually cover it up.Unfortunately, you should track down the source, stop this, and replace affected servings of wallboard.What You Will Set up Instead of That High-End Porcelain Floor...Luxury vinyl floors.You only think you want that will radiant-heat granite floor. Yet that purchase alone may blow your entire remodel spending budget.Old-school vinyl is gone; items have changed. Vinyl today looks better than ever, with improvements such as luxury vinyl floors (LVF) and plank plastic that look fantastic.Refinish Tub Instead of Replacing ThisBathtub or shower refinishing is a prime example of cover up, not replace. If the issue is mainly cosmetic--a yellowed surface area and some cracks and nicks--you can refinish your bath or bathtub.Alternatively, bath tub and shower liners--a basic piece of infomercials--are not as inexpensive as they seem. Never an everlasting fix, they will carry a person through a few years. Liners need professional installation. Refinishing, rather, is cheaper and appears better.Pre-Fab Shower Instead of TiledHave you decided that the tub or shower is usually beyond refinishing? The totally most expensive option is employing tradesmen to build a device out of tile from scratch.Rather, consider pre-fabricated shower devices.If you absolutely must have that will tiled shower, fusing the poly shower pan with all the tile saves some trouble and a little bit of cost.

I’m not a hoarder. I don’t generally form any kind of emotional attachment to things. In fact, I could probably count on one hand the number of possessions I have that actually have any kind of emotional/sentimental meaning to me. Everything else could be loaded up on a truck and taken away, and I wouldn’t feel a thing. So no, I’m not a hoarder. What I am is an incredibly messy and disorganized person (although you know I’ve been trying to become more organized.) I can generally handle my messes during a project because I know it’s just a temporary state. My messes do start to get to me when I near the end of a project and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. By that time, I’m anxious to dive into the cleaning, organizing and putting away so that I can enjoy my newly-finished project or room. But sometimes the messes get so out of control that they seem way too big to manage. And when they get like that, I don’t feel excited to dive into the cleaning and organizing. I just want to shut the door on the mess and bury my […]

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My colorful small bathroom makeover is finally finished! This is the bathroom that’s in the hallway — the same one that I completely remodeled about four years ago. And at the beginning of this month, I decided that it needed a shot of color. Here’s how it turned out… Almost all of last year, this bathroom had a dull gray vanity and grayish green walls. I didn’t realize just how boring and depressing the bathroom felt until I changed the wall color and added some bold color to the room. Here’s how it looked before… I can’t believe I lived with that for a whole year. 😀 The “new” bathroom is so much more me. The makeover started with the new shower curtain fabric, which actually isn’t new at all. I bought that in 2016 during my failed attempt to turn my living room into a dining room. I had intended to use that fabric for the dining chairs, I believe. I can’t really remember now. But it’s been sitting in a box ever since I gave up on that vision and realized that my living rooms should be a living room. I’m so glad I came across that fabric […]

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I’ve made a bit more progress on the bathroom, and if all goes as planned, I should have it finished today. And I’ve made a few changes that I think made a pretty big impact. If you’ll remember, this is what it looked like two days ago… And this is what it looks like now… I like this current version so much more! First of all, the series of nine separate framed resin petries is gone, and based on the suggestion that about half of you made, I put them all in one frame. And since I didn’t want to build another frame, I just decided to use the one that had been there all along. If you’ll remember, it used to look like this… I like that the frame carries the stained wood look from the countertops and the ceiling to that far wall. I do wish the frame were a bit lighter in color, though. I’d prefer it to match the countertops and not the ceiling, but unfortunately, that frame isn’t real wood. If it were, I would have refinished it by now. But it’s actually a cheap paper veneer with a printed wood grain on it wrapped […]

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I’ve been working on the electrical stuff in the studio, which isn’t pretty, but it’s definitely necessary. So while I’m working on the non-pretty stuff, I’ve been dreaming of what the studio will look like when it’s actually finished. I’ve been envisioning green cabinets, which I shared the other day. I knew the green paint colors in those inspiration pics weren’t exactly what I’d need to go with my wallpaper, but I figured I could pick a green from the wallpaper that would be pretty close. Well, I was wrong. There’s no green in that wallpaper that comes even close to those inspiration green paint colors. So I started pulling out other colors directly from the wallpaper to see if any struck me as a potential cabinet color. As a reminder, here’s the wallpaper… And here is the sample that I ordered from Spoonflower… I did try the greens first, but none were even close to those bright kelly green inspiration pictures. Here’s a sampling of the greens I pulled right out of this wallpaper… And here they are with the wallpaper. Here’s the first green… That’s just such a blah color. It does nothing for the wallpaper. Or me, […]

The studio is cleaned out and ready for work to begin! I can just envision my office area over on the left, and my long work table under the windows on the right. It’s going to be amazing! (I’ll put a link to the post with my plan at the end of this post in case you missed it.) Just a few days ago, it looked like this… I spent a couple of hours tackling the mess by myself last week, and then I had a few days where life got in the way, and I didn’t have any time to dedicate to this room. So yesterday, I called my brother in for reinforcement. We worked non-stop for about four hours, and we GOT IT DONE! There are still a few items left in here, but I can easily work around them. And we left the things that I’ll actually need, like the ladders and the rolls of electrical wire. So the next step is electrical, followed by rerouting the air ducts. Once that’s done, I can call in my drywall guys to do the insulation and drywall. And then we’ll be off to the races! New flooring, installing trim, […]

I did get started on the studio yesterday, but I’ll be honest. If I hadn’t posted yesterday about needing accountability, I wouldn’t have gotten anything done at all. In fact, I put it off as long as I could, and then around 4:30 yesterday, I said to myself, “Kristi, you HAVE TO show progress tomorrow because people are going to ask. So GET.SOMETHING.DONE.” Accountability works. There’s nothing drastic about the progress I made, but I did put in a good two hours of work. At least it’s a start. And at least the room doesn’t feel quite so suffocating anymore. This is what it looked like yesterday before I got started… And this is this morning… There’s a little more breathing room, and a little more room to move around, as evidenced by Cooper. Yesterday, he was trapped. (Did you even notice him? It’s my own version of Where’s Waldo? 😀 ) And now he can roam a bit freer. (Don’t worry. The saw has a blade guard on it, and it’s not plugged in. He just likes to sniff all the things.) So it’s not huge progress, but it’s progress. And the best part is that I got over that […]

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Let’s have a heart-to-heart chat. I want to share some encouragement with y’all that I know I’ve shared before. In fact, I’ve probably written similar posts several times over the years. I’ll probably write another one sometime in 2020. But I feel like we all need a reminder every once in a while. And since it’s the beginning of a new year, I thought this might be the perfect time. So what is this reminder about? It’s this… Your home should reflect you and those who live in it. No one else. Period. This whole blogging thing is challenging at times. Not from a “oh, my job is so hard” aspect. I thrive on the actual work, and feel incredibly lucky that I get to do what I love every single day and make a good living doing it. But from the “putting my life/home out there for public commentary and input” aspect, it gets challenging. And I’m not even talking about the meanies. That’s not what this post is about at all. This is more about others’ expectations for your home, and doing your best to quiet the voices and stay true to yourself. I think that the sheer volume of […]

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I finally got my new DIY shower curtain made! I was beginning to think it would never be finished with all of my sewing machine problems, and then the fact that the fabric I was using was a complete pain to work with. I was about ready to scrap the entire project and start over with a new fabric. But I’m glad I kept going, because this DIY shower curtain in the bright watercolor floral fabric adds so much color and life to my previously blah bathroom. I still haven’t painted the walls, and that drab green color is doing the room no favors. It will soon be a bright, clean white. I wish I could change the tiles in the accent border, but that’s way more than I want to do right now. So for now, the tiles will stay. But I might swap those out later this year or next year after I’ve gotten way more done on the rooms I’m actually supposed to be working on this year. 😀 Here’s a peek of the new shower curtain with the colorful resin petries that I intend to frame for the wall, and a glimpse of the new cabinet […]

Well, the week has only just begun, and yet I’m having one of those weeks. You know the kind. Those weeks where you feel very busy, and yet nothing gets done. Those weeks where you face one road block after another. For the last two days, I’ve been trying to turn this pile of fabric… …into my new shower curtain for the hallway bathroom. It should have been a simple, one-day project, and yet I’m on the third day and it lingers on. I’ve had problem after problem with my sewing machine — bobbin not working right, broken needles, and then finally the machine just refusing to work at all. I have no idea what the issue is, but I finally borrowed my mom’s machine last night, and I’ll be taking mine in to be serviced. Hopefully today, I can finally make some headway on this. But if you’ll remember, that’s the fabric that I purchased in 2016 during my failed attempt to turn my living room into a dining room. The other day when I was itching to add some color to my blah bathroom (my blahthroom, as Matt would say 😀 ), I remembered this fabric, so I […]

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I’ve been spending the last couple of days working on my hallway bathroom makeover that I mentioned earlier this week. I should have it finished up this weekend and be ready to move on to other projects. But y’all, I’m pretty excited because after years and years of struggling with staining pine, I think I’ve finally found the magic method for getting rid of those hideous (to me) orange and yellow undertones that come through when you put stain on pine. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with pine for well over a decade now. I love it because it’s cheap and abundantly available. But I hate it because getting it just the right color with stain is virtually impossible. But my pine-staining woes may be a thing of the past! This bathroom countertop is one that I built from 2″ x 3″ pine lumber four years ago when I remodeled this hallway bathroom. I had such a hard time getting the finish right and getting rid of all of those orange and yellow undertones in the wood that I ended up with a really dark, almost opaque finish on the countertop. It definitely wasn’t what I had envisioned when I […]

The post My Newly Refinished Wood Bathroom Countertop (And A Peek At The New Cabinet...

I’m starting to seriously think about and make plans for my studio/back entry/half bathroom area, and as you probably already know, what I really want on the front wall of my studio is a bold, colorful watercolor floral wallpaper. But after months and months of searching for the perfect pattern with no success (believe me, I’ve searched all major wallpaper companies, Etsy, Bluebellgray, Spoonflower, and on, and on), I’ve finally decided that my only option is to create my own custom wallpaper pattern. I knew I wanted something really bold (like really, really bold) with very little negative space. Rather than precious bouquets of flowers neatly bundled with lots of blank space between them, I wanted it to look more like an explosion of flowers all over the wallpaper. I made a couple of designs, and this is the one I liked the most… See what I mean about an explosion of flowers? 😀 There are no precious little bouquets of flowers on that wall! I’ve shown y’all before how to turn a very simple acrylic painting into a repeatable wallpaper design, but for my studio, I’m almost certain that I want watercolor flowers on that wall. And while I’m […]

A few days ago, I shared with y’all that I wanted to frame a series of nine resin petries to hang on the bathroom wall during its current colorful makeover. First I want to show you how I made the simple DIY shadow box frames that I made for the petries, because you can use this idea to frame all kinds of two-dimensional and three-dimensional items. And then I’ll show you why I don’t think they work well on the bathroom wall. These are the resin petries I wanted to frame. They’re about four inches in diameter. And I wanted to display them in very simple easy-to-make shadow box frames. How to build the shadow box frames Step 1: Cut four pieces of 1″ x 2″ lumber the same length, mitered on the ends. I cut my four pieces to approximately 10 inches long, mitered on the corners. Then I put them together using wood glue and 1.25-inch 18-gauge nails. Note that I would generally use my table saw to cut a rabbet into the 1″ x 2″ lumber before cutting the pieces, but for some reason, I couldn’t get the blade on my table saw to raise or lower. […]

This has been an amazing year for kitchen remodels. We have had the most amazing clients who have trusted us to help them create a vision and bring it to life. All of the following remodels worked with existing kitchen cabinets. We reworked the layouts a bit to create better work flow, added additional storage…

The post Our 8 Favorite Kitchen Remodels of 2018 appeared first on Bella Tucker Decorative Finishes.

Do you have a room or area in your house that you walk into and just think ‘‘ugh…this just isn’t right’? Well, that’s how I feel every time I walk into my hallway bathroom, which is generally a few times a day. And y’all, no finished area in our houses should make us feel that way. As much as I’ve been trying over the last couple of years to avoid redoing areas that I’ve deemed are finished, I just can’t commit to living with my hallway bathroom looking like it does now for another year. Now granted, what I have now is way better than what I started out with… In 2015, I remodeled that bathroom, ripping it down to the studs, ceiling joists, and floor joists, and completely rebuilt it. And after that remodel, it looked like this… You can see more of that hallway bathroom before and after here… Hallway Bathroom Remodel – Before And After But then at the end of 2017/beginning of 2018, during the hallway remodel, I decided to paint all of the hallway doors teal, which meant that the bathroom vanity color needed to change. And because nothing else I tried seemed to work with the dark...

I’m back today with a little more info about my pantry remodel. If you missed the big “before and after” post filled with photos of my newly finished pantry remodel, you can see it here: I had intended to include a short video tour in yesterday’s post, but after encountering technical difficulty after difficulty with my computer on Wednesday, it was all I could do to just get photos edited. So I finally gave up on the video and went to bed. But I gave it another try yesterday (after doing quite a bit of computer maintenance to make things run smoother), so I thought I’d go ahead and share it today. (Having difficulty with that video? You can click here to view it on YouTube.) I also wanted to take a moment and answer a couple of questions that I was asked by several people yesterday. First, let’s talk about under cabinet lighting. How I installed my under cabinet LED tape lighting Several people wanted the details on just how I installed the lighting in my pantry, so let me show you some close up photos of just how and where everything is attached. You can click here to […]

I finally have before and after pictures of my finished butler’s pantry remodel to show you! The actual pantry took me ten-and-a-half weeks to build and finish, which was much more than I had bargained for when I decided to be a guest participant in the Fall 2018 One Room Challenge. I must have been delusional to think I could get this room done in five weeks, including building the cabinets from scratch, building a wood countertop, building floating shelves, painting the freezer, building pull-out shelves, and hand-tinting over 200 resin/alcohol ink tiles. But that challenge was just what I needed to give me the motivation to get started on the pantry. And while I didn’t finish it during the challenge, I did meet my main goal of finishing it by the end of 2018. I’ll give you the whole tour, and show you lots of before (waaaaay before, as well as before the One Room Challenge) pictures. But first, did you notice that I’m calling it a butler’s pantry now? I was reluctant to use that term because it seems so fancy and highfalutin for my house. But just calling it a pantry seems misleading since the only food […]

Happy 2019, y’all! Wow…2019. I hope all of you had a wonderful ending to 2018. I personally sat on my butt on my bed, snuggled under my comfy blanket and glued to Netflix, for the entire last week. It was glorious. I didn’t do one single home-related project over the last eight days. I didn’t cook. I didn’t clean. If it couldn’t be done from a seating position on my bed in front of the TV, it didn’t get done. That’s why you’ll notice that the blog has a new look (which could be done on my laptop while I sat in bed), but I don’t yet have pictures of the pantry to show you. It’s kind of difficult to take pictures of the pantry from my bed. 😀 Those are coming very soon, and I’ll probably even show a preview on Instagram. But today, it’s back to reality, and back to work. I’m shedding my comfy blanket, returning custody of the TV remote to Matt, and gearing up for what I believe will be an exciting and very productive year. My week off was amazing and just what I needed to get rested and refreshed, but I’m excited to […]

Well, hello there, y’all! I’ve been having such a great week off, binge watching all of the cheesy holiday romcoms I can find (with a little Bird Box thrown in) before the calendar rolls over to January 1st. I still have two more days of Netflix binging planned, but before we officially say goodbye to 2018, I wanted to review my home goals list for the year and see just how much I got done. I didn’t get everything on my list finished, but I didn’t expect to. I’d have to actually be Wonder Woman to complete a list like that. But I am very pleased with the progress I made this year. Let’s take a look, shall we? House Exterior: At the beginning of the year, the exterior of our house looked like this… I had test samples of paint on the stone, and I hadn’t even started on the front porch makeover. So here are the things that got done on the house exterior in 2018: We hired some people to paint the exterior. Click here to see. I built and installed ten shutters. Click here to see the studio shutters, and click here to see the other shutters. I […]

Our daughter loves Christmas decorations. Like, REALLY loves them. Around November she starts asking when the decorations will be up in our house, the restaurants we visit, the neighborhoods on our routes. Ah, the neighborhood entrances. We moved into a neighborhood without an HOA about 7 years ago. So, we’ve listened to her for the…

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Y’all, I felt so productive yesterday! I was getting things done, crossing things off the list, and feeling so energized that when 11:00pm rolled around, Matt had to actually convince me that it really was time to stop and wind down for the night. I felt like I could have worked all night…or at least […]

I don’t know if y’all are getting tired of my daily updates yet, but I can tell you that this whole accountability thing is just exactly what I needed. Knowing that at the end of every day, I’m going to have to give y’all an update on what I’ve actually accomplished (or failed to accomplish) […]

My pantry progress continues, but yesterday could be described as “slow and steady.” I thought things would go much faster since most of the items remaining on my list were painting, and I really enjoy painting. But I got a late start, started off slowly, and then couldn’t seem to pick up the pace at […]